Pho 54, Cabramatta

Hi there! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Thanks so so so much for your emails, messages and patience during my brief hiatus. If you’ve been following me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you will have seen that I haven’t stopped eating so there’s definitely no shortage of content! I’d just lost a bit of my blogging mojo but here’s the first post of 2013 and the return of yours truly!

The trouble with judging the best pho in Sydney, is not being able to taste them all side by side. So with that in mind, let me share with you my current most favourite restaurant for pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup): Pho 54.

I almost never stop craving a good bowl of pho.

Only just slightly larger than a standard family living room, Pho 54 is a quaint restaurant that has been serving Saigon-style pho for decades to a loyal following. The old school menu (or lack of: there is just one billboard style menu on the wall and staff are ready to take your order the second you’re seated) and decor has stood the test of time. The only thing that has really changed over the years are the prices – a small creep up from I think something around $7 to the now $9 – which is still an absolute bargain!

A pet peeve with many pho restaurants is how stingy some of them are with the fresh herbs and bean sprouts. And needing to ask for some sate chilli sauce is even more frustrating! Pho 54 on the other hand, dishes out an abundance of fresh Thai basil, bean spouts, lemon wedges, fresh chilli slices and a serving of sate chilli sauce without any hesitation.

Everything runs like clockwork here and it’s brilliant.

My pho dac biet (special beef noodle soup) arrives minutes within ordering. It’s the perfect ratio of meat (sliced eye fillet, tendons, beef balls, tripe and flank) to noodles and soup. The broth has a beautiful depth of flavour and is spot on with it’s comforting ginger, star anise, cinnamon, peppercorns, cloves and coriander seed notes. While rich in flavour, the broth is clean and uncloudy. The thin rice noodles are slippery soft but not overcooked. I top up the sate chilli sauce with a generous squirt of hoisin sauce for dipping the meats into and proceed to devour the entire bowl. It is nourishing and utterly delicious.

Everyone has their own personal preference for what defines a good pho, and this, would be my pick! Where’s yours?

Jennifer is the founding blogger of I Ate My Way Through (originally, Jenius.com.au).
Growing up in the multicultural melting pot of Sydney’s Inner West as a second generation Australian (of Vietnamese refugee parents of Teochew Chinese ancestry), Jen has always had a deep curiosity about global cuisines, culinary heritage and the cultural assimilation of immigrants. For Jen and her family, food is always at the centre of all celebrations, life events and milestones.
A lover of the finer things in life, as well as cheap eats, her blogging ethos is all about empowering and inspiring people to expand their culinary repertoire.
When not running her two companies (she is also the Managing Director of The Bamboo Garden online marketing agency), Jen can be found exploring old-world charms at vintage markets and delving into local eats around the world. She has a weakness for fried chicken.

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